If You See a Dog in a Hot Car This Weekend in Las Vegas, You Can Legally Break the Window

Most people who spot a dog locked in a parked car on a 100-degree day face a version of the same paralysis: they know something is wrong, they don’t know what they’re allowed to do, and they’re afraid of getting in trouble. This weekend, with Las Vegas forecast to hit triple digits for what would be the first time ever recorded in the month of March, is a good time to know exactly where Nevada law stands.

The short version: you can break the window. And you are legally protected when you do it.

Reba’s Law, signed by Governor Lombardo in 2025, grants immunity from both criminal and civil liability to a person who attempts to remove an animal from an unattended, locked car in extreme weather conditions. A person can use any reasonable means necessary to protect the pet and remove it from the vehicle, provided the car is locked and there is no other way to remove the animal.

The protection is real, but it comes with conditions you need to follow precisely. An individual rescuing a pet must first confirm the animal is in danger, notify law enforcement or animal control, take the most reasonable means to remove the pet, and remain with it until officers arrive.

That sequence matters. Calling 911 before you break the window is not just the right thing to do; it is what keeps you covered under the law. Document everything you can: the make, model, and license plate of the vehicle, the time, and the condition of the dog when you found it.

The law exists because the math on parked cars is brutal. On a 70-degree day, the temperature inside a car can reach 89°F in just 10 minutes. On a warmer day, that number can hit 114°F in the same window of time. This weekend, with air temperatures forecast above 100°F, a car in direct Las Vegas sun can become unsurvivable for a dog in minutes — not hours.

Under Nevada law, leaving a pet unattended in a parked vehicle under conditions that present a significant risk to the animal’s health and safety is illegal and carries up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. The person who left the dog in the car is the one breaking the law. You are not.

If you see a dog in a vehicle in distress this weekend, the steps are simple: call 911 or Clark County Animal Control immediately, stay with the vehicle, and if the dog is in clear danger and help is not arriving fast enough, use the most reasonable means available to get them out. Note what you did and when. Cooperate fully with responding officers.

Reba’s Law is named for an English bulldog who was found sealed inside a plastic tote behind a Las Vegas building during 110-degree heat in the summer of 2024. She died two days later from heatstroke. The law that bears her name was built to make sure the next person who sees something like that has both the legal authority and the legal protection to act.